In 761 Dōkyō won the confidence of the former empress Kōken (who had occupied the throne from 749 to 758) and, according to some accounts, became her lover. With the empress’s aid he began to exercise a dominant influence within the government. In 764 Dōkyō succeeded in eliminating his major political rival, the minister Oshikatsu, who was the favourite of the emperor Junnin.

In the ensuing coup, the emperor was deposed, and the former empress reascended the throne, ruling as the empress Shōtoku (764–770). Within a year Dōkyō was named prime minister, and in 766 he also was made high priest of state. Not content with virtually ruling the country, he persuaded an oracle to predict his succession to the throne, a pretension that angered many important members of the government, especially those of the powerful Fujiwara family. When the empress died in 770, the Fujiwara had Dōkyō banished from the capital. As a result of this episode, no woman was allowed to succeed to the Japanese throne for nearly a thousand years.

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